Tech News - March 2023

Welcome to the March issue of Tech News.

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New Staff or PhDs starting?

The earlier we know you have new staff or PhDs joining the University the more we can do to help ensure everything IT is ready for them from day one.

For staff, you’ll be prompted through an onboarding task in He Whatu Pūmanawa which will lead you to our “New Staff Starter” form in Kuhukuhu. And for PhD students, you can just go directly to Kuhukuhu and fill it in. We’ll make contact to discuss ICT requirements, and then get the ball rolling.

Teaching Rooms and Audio Visual Spotlight

Four weeks into Trimester A and the teaching rooms have performed well, with no major problems.

When you have finished using the teaching room for your class, and to help leave the room ready for the next Lecturer, please remember to do these two things:

1. If you have used the lapel microphone, please make sure this is put back on the charger correctly so it keeps charging for the remaining classes that day.
2. Please leave the teaching desk in a tidy state for the next user:
   - remove paper handouts, water bottles, etc  
   - push the cables back into the faceplate.

Thank you.

If there are any issues during your teaching, make sure you call 6066 using the teaching room phone. These calls are answered immediately. Feedback about teaching rooms can be sent to teaching_rooms@waikato.ac.nz.

ICT Services - what’s new and what’s changed

Digital Signage Solution - Yodeck
As the new network solution is rolled out across our campus the existing Chromecast digital signage solution will no longer work. As part of the project Chromecast will be replaced with our new digital signage solution - Yodeck.  Area’s that don’t have any digital signage, and would would like Yodeck installed should contact ITS and we will work through this with you.  Read the Digital Signage knowledge article to find out more about Yodeck.

Lenovo

ITS is excited to bring a new partnership on board for computers, with Lenovo as our preferred computer supplier. This means that as University devices reach the end of their 4 year lifecycle, they will now be replaced by Lenovo devices instead of Dell. Lenovo was selected based on a competitive process involving multiple manufacturers. In this process Lenovo excelled in a number of key criteria, including technology, sustainability, and inclusivity.

• Technology: Lenovo’s technology features and service offering are superior. Including better battery life, quieter/cooler running, better feature set for end users, e.g touch screen on all laptop models, stylus (pen) functionality on most Laptops - great for writing notes in meetings, or being able to enhance student learning through being able to use the stylus during teaching opportunities. And both laptops and desktops to meet the needs of students and researchers with complex computing needs e.g. Complex data sets, Computer Graphic Design, CAD & Engineering.
• Sustainability: Lenovo are committed to sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For the University this means the product is shipped to the University rather than flown - reducing transport carbon emissions by 310%. All Products have carbon offsets for their expected lifecycle (including manufacturing & transport carbon emissions). Products come in bulk packaging wherever possible, and by 2025, 90% of all Packaging will use recycled materials. As well as ongoing innovation in packaging and device materials - including recycled metals and plastics in their construction. More information about Lenovo’s sustainability and ESG journey can be found here.

• Inclusivity: The University of Waikato as part of the relationship with Lenovo is the launch customer for the Aotearoa New Zealand bilingual keyboard, designed to seamlessly write in te reo Māori. Lenovo is the first manufacturer in the world to have Māori pōtae (macrons) printed on the keyboard of a laptop. This is hoped to promote the usage of Te Reo, by increasing it’s visibility in technology, and enable it to be used in conjunction with the Māori language option in Windows.The keyboard can still be used for English like any other. As devices across the Lenovo range become available with the Aotearoa New Zealand bilingual keyboard, the University will choose this keyboard as our standard keyboard across Lenovo products.

Kuhukuhu Knowledge - Find Answers

We’ve started creating and moving knowledge from the ICT Self Help website into Kuhukuhu. Some of the services in “Find Answers” include ‘reference articles’ and ‘how to guides’ for services like softphones and voicemail, enabling and typing with Māori Tohutō (Macrons), and using Zoom.

As the information is made live in Kuhukuhu, it will start to disappear from ICT Self Help, with redirects put in place to automatically feed users through to the new knowledge base space.

Network Upgrade Project - update

Completed:

• ITS Building
• C, D, E, F, and G Blocks
• TRU Building

Next:

• S Block
• L Block
• M Block

Upcoming Training

We want to hear from you!

What training do you think is missing? Or you would like to see offered?

Drop us a line at its.training@waikato.ac.nz and let us know what you think would be good refreshers for existing staff, and essential topics for new staff.

Planned Maintenance